Barack Obama

====Racial issues====
{{see also|Race and ethnicity in the United States}}

In his speeches as president, Obama did not make more overt references to race relations than his predecessors,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dyson |first1=Michael Eric |title=The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-544-38766-9 |page=275|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gillion |first=Daniel Q. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/governing-with-words/5D4F713A016401E3FC3922C66D371FF2 |title=Governing with Words |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-316-41229-9 |language=en |doi=10.1017/CBO9781316412299 |access-date=June 5, 2019 |archive-date=August 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810185603/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/governing-with-words/5D4F713A016401E3FC3922C66D371FF2 |url-status=live }}</ref> but according to one study, he implemented stronger policy action on behalf of African-Americans than any president since the Nixon era.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Butler |first1=Bennett |last2=Mendelberg |first2=Tali |last3=Haines |first3=Pavielle E. |date=2019 |title="I'm Not the President of Black America": Rhetorical versus Policy Representation |journal=Perspectives on Politics |language=en |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=1038–1058 |doi=10.1017/S1537592719000963 |issn=1537-5927 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Following Obama's election, many pondered the existence of a "[[Post-racial America|postracial America]]".<ref name="wrodgers">{{cite news |last1=Rodgers |first1=Walter |date=January 5, 2010 |title=A year into Obama's presidency, is America postracial? |work=The Christian Science Monitor |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Walter-Rodgers/2010/0105/A-year-into-Obama-s-presidency-is-America-postracial |access-date=November 15, 2015 |archive-date=November 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117065412/http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Walter-Rodgers/2010/0105/A-year-into-Obama-s-presidency-is-America-postracial |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="shearalcindor1">{{cite news |last1=Shear |first1=Michael |last2=Alcindor |first2=Yamiche |date=January 14, 2017 |title=Jolted by Deaths, Obama Found His Voice on Race |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/14/us/politics/obama-presidency-race.html |access-date=January 17, 2017 |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116205805/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/14/us/politics/obama-presidency-race.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, lingering racial tensions quickly became apparent,<ref name="wrodgers" /><ref name="ccil2">{{cite news |last1=Cillizza |first1=Chris |date=August 14, 2014 |title=President Obama's vision of post-racial America faces another stress test with Ferguson |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/08/14/president-obamas-desire-to-reshape-race-relations-runs-into-stark-realities/ |access-date=November 15, 2015 |archive-date=November 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117033531/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/08/14/president-obamas-desire-to-reshape-race-relations-runs-into-stark-realities/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and many African-Americans expressed outrage over what they saw as an intense racial animosity directed at Obama.<ref name="jblake">{{Cite web |last=Blake |first=John |date=July 1, 2016 |title=What black America won't miss about Obama |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/30/politics/why-black-america-may-be-relieved-to-see-obama-go/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003024730/https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/30/politics/why-black-america-may-be-relieved-to-see-obama-go/ |archive-date=October 3, 2022 |website=[[CNN]]}}</ref> The [[Trial of George Zimmerman|acquittal]] of [[George Zimmerman]] following the [[killing of Trayvon Martin]] sparked national outrage, leading to Obama giving a speech in which he noted that "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago."<ref name="ccilliza">{{cite news |last1=Cillizza |first1=Chris |date=July 19, 2013 |title=President Obama's remarkably personal speech on Trayvon Martin and race in America |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/07/19/president-obamas-remarkably-personal-speech-on-trayvon-martin-and-race-in-america/ |access-date=November 15, 2015 |archive-date=November 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117022902/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/07/19/president-obamas-remarkably-personal-speech-on-trayvon-martin-and-race-in-america/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The shooting of [[Shooting of Michael Brown|Michael Brown]] in [[Ferguson, Missouri]] [[Ferguson unrest|sparked a wave of protests]].<ref name="capeheart2">{{cite news |last1=Capeheart |first1=Jonathan |date=February 27, 2015 |title=From Trayvon Martin to 'black lives matter' |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/02/27/from-trayvon-martin-to-black-lives-matter/ |access-date=November 15, 2015 |archive-date=November 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117013956/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/02/27/from-trayvon-martin-to-black-lives-matter/ |url-status=live }}</ref> These and other events led to the birth of the [[Black Lives Matter]] movement, which campaigns against violence and [[Institutional racism|systemic racism]] toward [[black people]].<ref name="capeheart2" /> Though Obama entered office reluctant to talk about race, by 2014 he began openly discussing the disadvantages faced by many members of minority groups.<ref name="pbacon">{{cite news |last1=Bacon |first1=Perry Jr. |date=January 3, 2015 |title=In Wake of Police Shootings, Obama Speaks More Bluntly About Race |publisher=NBC |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/barack-obama/wake-police-shootings-obama-speaks-more-bluntly-about-race-n278616 |access-date=November 15, 2015 |archive-date=November 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151111003526/http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/barack-obama/wake-police-shootings-obama-speaks-more-bluntly-about-race-n278616 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Several incidents during Obama's presidency generated disapproval from the African-American community and with law enforcement, and Obama sought to build trust between law enforcement officials and civil rights activists, with mixed results. Some in law enforcement criticized Obama's condemnation of racial bias after incidents in which police action led to the death of African-American men, while some racial justice activists criticized Obama's expressions of empathy for the police.<ref name="bridgethedivide">{{cite news |last1=Hirschfield Davis |first1=Julie |date=July 13, 2016 |title=Obama Urges Civil Rights Activists and Police to Bridge Divide |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/14/us/politics/tensions-between-police-and-blacks-are-likely-to-worsen-obama-says.html |access-date=July 23, 2016 |archive-date=July 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718174834/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/14/us/politics/tensions-between-police-and-blacks-are-likely-to-worsen-obama-says.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In a March 2016 Gallup poll, nearly one third of Americans said they worried "a great deal" about race relations, a higher figure than in any previous Gallup poll since 2001.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 11, 2016 |title=U.S. Worries About Race Relations Reach a New High |publisher=Gallup |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/190574/worries-race-relations-reach-new-high.aspx?g_source=race%20obama&g_medium=search&g_campaign=tiles |access-date=December 5, 2016 |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220044735/http://www.gallup.com/poll/190574/worries-race-relations-reach-new-high.aspx?g_source=race%20obama&g_medium=search&g_campaign=tiles |url-status=live }}</ref>